The bow historically has been a very important part of most stringed instruments, and most stringed instruments would be practically useless without one. Therefore, an understanding of the origin of the bow is important to understand the origin of the related stringed instrument.
The bow as a musical instrument, was well-known among primitive cultures around the world, and throughout the Arab world and the Byzantine Empire, but was not introduced into Western culture until around the eleventh century.
Stringed instruments and the bows used to play these instruments were quite rudimentary, and were subject to considerable variation. The curvature of the stick was also convex, and the hair fastened directly to the stick without a device for adjusting the tension of the hair. These types of bows had to be frequently replaced and/or discarded.
The development of the bow remained rather the same for a considerable time. Certain developments, such as devices to spread the hair were contemplated, but it is not until much later after the introduction of the violin instrument that improvements such as frogs with denotated mechanisms to adjust hair tension, and true button and screw mechanisms were developed.
The familiar pike-type bow head appeared around the time of the death of instrument producer, Stradivari. Common woods used for making bows during this era were iron and snakewood; lighter woods were often fluted to give the bow additional strength and rigidity.
For a long period of time, the curvature, or camber of the bow, remained convex. Perhaps as a result of experimentation and artistic collaboration, the camber was changed from convex to concave, the fluted bow and pike's head abandoned, and the ferrule invented.
During this period, the bow changed considerably as a result of changes in performance venues, as music moved from the smaller stages to larger venues and larger audiences. The newer bows enabled greater sonority, power, and projection, sustained a wider range of dynamic levels, and articulated a greater variety of new bowing techniques.
Pernambuco wood became the wood of choice for string instrument bows because pernambuco wood is extremely heavy and dense. Pernambuco also was an important source in dye manufacturing before the advent of synthetic aniline dyes. The ready availability of tremendous quantities of pernambuco wood eventually changed the construction of the bow because of pernambuco's combination of strength and elasticity for making bows.
Modern producers of bows have attempted to make the bow out of a composite material including fiberglass and plastics. However, the sound qualities and the construction necessary to make these bows have been problematic and have led most users to stick with the wood designs.
A problem with the standard type instrument bows is that they are made up of a plurality of pieces that must be fitted together to form the unit. Because the instrument bow is constructed in a plurality of pieces that are subsequently affixed to each other, they tend to come apart after substantial use and must be either fixed or discarded.
Yet another problem exists because the typical instrument bow must be constantly adjusted and requires a considerable amount of upkeep to keep the bow in condition for use.
What is needed is a improved instrument bow and technique for making the improved instrument bow. Further, a need therefore exists for an improved instrument bow that may use more modern materials that may be cheaper and easy to form. Moreover, a need exists for an instrument bow that is a single piece construction that does not need frequent repair and/or adjustment yet has good sound quality and utility.